For defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley and the Mountaineers' defense, the second half in WVU's 41-28 victory over UCF on Saturday was one to remember and he says that his unit continues to soak in the coaching and improve.
West Virginia's defense against the Knights only allowed 14 points in each half for a total of 28, despite being outgained by UCF in terms of total offensive yardage 463 to 450. The game-changing element for Lesley's defense was four takeaways, the most the Mountaineers had forced on the season.
"We’re trying to do the turnovers particularly in the red zone, with Beanie [Bishop's] two picks and the fourth down there at the end, that was the difference," Lesley said. "You know going into those games that you have to get those. Some of those throws are hard for the quarterbacks, so I knew we were going to have opportunities, we just had to make them."
Injuries were something that has potentially contributed to the recent struggles in the previous two contests on the defensive side of the ball, including a season-ending injury to starting linebacker Trey Lathan as well as setbacks for starting safeties Aubrey Burks and Hershey McLaurin, among other minor ailments.
However, Lesley understands that injuries are a part of the game and that it's up to him and his fellow coaches to prepare other players to step and then make adjustments when necessary.
"Injuries are what they are, I'm not going to sit up here and make excuses for that, you have to get the next guy ready," Lesley said. "You have to be ready to adjust and willing to adjust on the fly without having to make wholesale changes to what you’re trying to do."
Despite injuries, Lesley credits many of the veterans on this WVU defense that play week in and week out. Those that can step up on the fly to make plays that separate them from the rest, such as middle linebacker Lee Kpogba's strip-sack that changed the game against the Knights.
"On the fly, when things are moving fast, those are the things that make really good players stand out and that's something we drill. As they see opportunities, they know how to maximize them and take them," Lesley said. "Kudos to him [Kpogba]. Older players are the guys that when they have that opportunity, they see it and take it and it paid off."
To fill every spot in the lineup, Lesley and the defense has rolled out many young players into a new role to replace injuries, including freshman linebacker Ben Cutter who made his first start against Houston.
Related: West Virginia CB Bishop embracing leadership role, making plays
More recently though, freshman cornerback Raleigh Collins and in-state freshman linebacker Caden Biser were depended upon more against the Knights than ever before in their young careers, and both played well according to Lesley.
"The thing that both of those guys are really young players and in a developmental phase in their career. Be exactly where you’re supposed to be and both of those guys did that," Lesley said. "Raleigh [Collins III] did a really nice job. Those reverses they run, they run those like split zone, counter or power plays. It's a part of their offense. You must keep your leverage on your number and Raleigh did that."
Despite all of the positives coming from a game with four takeaways and only 28 points on the opposing scoreboard in a 13-point win, Lesley sees some small technical changes in coverage that he believes will be easy fixes for his unit.
"Most of the offenses we play have some sort of tempo and the ball always moves across the field from hash to hash and every single one of those are different. It's as much in the technique of the drop instead of the landmark," Lesley explains. "If your outside leg is pointed, you’re going to go where that leg is pointed. As you start to get a little fatigued, get that knee pointed down and stay in your break. That’s the difference in picks and pass breakups. It's very correctable and we did it today."
"Different coverages have different landmarks. It is something that is very fixable and in the last couple weeks, because the number of people we have in different spots, it's not something they've done," Lesley said. "There’s a couple of reasons they’re off and you’re never going to be perfect, you just have to have a general area. We weren't perfect on that Saturday and it’s an easy fix."
In general, in a stretch where the WVU defense had allowed 39 or more points in two-straight games, Lesley said that you want to replicate the great performances like against UCF.
Similar to what the defensive unit did against the Knights, he wants to be consistent but also have the ability to adjust to each team over week to week.
"You want to repeat the great ones but you have to fix the bad ones because if you don't they show back up, which was our big message for them," Lesley said. "This time of the year, it's the teams that continue to improve on whatever they need to improve on and it changes week to week. The teams that get themselves in good situations are the ones that continue to improve."
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